Our OFSTED Report

The purpose of the inspection is to identify strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the Desirable Outcomes for childrens learning on entering compulsory education, (i.e. by the age of five). It is also to assure parents and the public that nursery education funded by the state is of an acceptable quality. The inspection report must be made available to all parents.

If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

There are six learning outcomes which need to be achieved, these are as follows together with the findings of the Inspection

A.QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL PROVISION

1. Personal and Social - promotes the desirable outcomes
2. Language and Literacy - promotes the desirable outcomes
3. Mathematics - promotes the desirable outcomes
4. Knowledge and Understanding - promotes the desirable outcomes
5. Physical Development - promotes the desirable outcomes
   Has minor weaknesses
6. Creative Development - promotes the desirable outcomes

B. CHILDRENS SPIRITUAL, MORAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IS FOSTERED APPROPRIATELY.

C. PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING THE ACTION PLAN IS SATISFACTORY.

D. OUTCOME AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE INSPECTION

  Since the last Inspection the setting has made satisfactory progress in implementing the action plan.

Taken overall, the quality and standards of the educational provision are acceptable in promoting the desirable outcomes for childrens learning. It is recommended that the next Inspection occurs within 2-4 years

The educational programme at Stanhope House Day Nursery covers all six areas of learning and ensures that the children will achieve the desirable learning outcomes by the time they are five years old. The programmes for personal and social development, language and literacy, mathematics and creative development are all generally good. The programme for knowledge and Understanding of the world has significantly improved since the last inspection and is now a strength of the nursery. The improvements to the garden and nursery 3 & 4 have had a very positive impact on the provision. The programme for physical development is satisfactory and has some minor weaknesses to address. The staff have made satisfactory progress towards their action plan, which was drawn up in response to the four key issues raised at the previous inspection. The nurserys commitment to staff training has improved the staffs knowledge and, overall, this has had a very positive impact on the quality of provision.

Personal and Social Development - Programme is generally good. The children are confident and they are consistently well behaved. There is a happy atmosphere and the children work well together. They treat the nursery environment respectfully and are able to select their own activities and resources, moving between the two adjoining rooms freely. The childrens language and literacy is generally developing well. The staff provide a wide range of opportunities to develop the childrens speaking and listening skills. They make good use of role play and are confident in their free writing. The children are beginning to recognise letters of the alphabet, staff need to relate these with syllables and patterns in rhyme. There is a good range of books available to use, not all of them are easily accessible to the children.

Mathematics - Programme is generally well provided for. The children understand a wide mathematical vocabulary and the staff have increased opportunities for them to recognise and recreate mathematical patterns. The children are confident in recognising numbers and counting, and they solve mathematical problems through their play and specially planned activities. The staff introduce some practical additions and subtraction, although the computer programme used for this is inappropriate for pre-school childrens age and stage of development. The children are developing very well in their knowledge and understanding of the world. They regularly talk about their families and events in their lives. They have an awareness of the world about them. The staff have recently introduced a special interest and nature table, which provides natural and made objects for the children to handle. Since the last inspection, the staff have improved stimuli for the children to question why things happen and how things work, and they provide a permanent range of materials and equipment for the children to use for their own purposes. There is also a very good range of technological equipment available.

Physical - Programme is satisfactory. Although the equipment has considerably improved, the staff are not planning effectively for the children to increase their physical co-ordination and awareness of space. The children use a range of large and small equipment, including balancing and climbing apparatus, although not necessarily with increasing skill. However, there is good range of opportunities for the children to improve their fine manipulative skills and hand eye coordination The programme for creative development is now good overall, and has improved significantly since the previous inspection. The children have regular opportunities to use musical instruments and to explore sound. They experiment with colour and texture and work regularly in both two and three dimensions. They have good awareness of their senses and have improved opportunities to use their imaginations in their artwork and play. The staff need to consider a range of opportunities for the children to listen to and move to music.

The staff provide equal encouragement to both boys and girls to participate in the full range of activities. The staff plan the programme to ensure that morning and afternoon children also experience the same curriculum. Sometimes, the staff change the objectives of the activity according to the childrens age and stage of development. However, they are not effectively using information from the childrens records of attainment and progress to meet the childrens individual needs, which was a requirement of the previous inspection. This has implications for those who are more able or those who speak who speak English as an additional language. There are currently no children in her nursery who have special educational needs.

The staff make good use of learning resources fully to promote the childrens knowledge and understanding of the world. In all other areas, they make satisfactory use of resources. The provision of reading material is not easily accessible to the children, and some of the book are of inferior quality. There is lack of planned use of resources to enhance the childrens addition and subtraction practically, and the computer programme for this is too difficult for the childrens age and stage of development. The resources for the childrens physical play have significantly improved since the last inspection, although the staff have yet to plan effectively for its use. There is a good range of resources overall, which is suitable for all children attending, although there is a lack of music to listen and dance to. The resources are well organised and most are accessible. The staff make good use of the newly adapted accommodation and the improved outdoor area.

The planning of the educational programme is generally good. The staff have worked hard in conjunction with a mentor to address this aspect of the provision in response to a previous key issue. The plans span across the six areas of learning and most of the desirable outcomes are included, although planning for mathematics, physical development and creative development is less thorough. The staff give good priority to most aspects of personal and social development, language and literacy and mathematics. They are clear of their own deployment, and the plans make clear the learning objectives for children of different ages and stages of development, allowing the staff sometimes to group the children informally. The staff make clear on the plans what the children should learn for some activities. However, this is not yet sufficient adequately to guide their teaching.

The quality of teaching and assessment is good overall. The input from an early years specialist to increase staff knowledge of individual learning areas and the desirable learning outcomes was a response to a previous key issue and has been effective. The staff are well deployed and are sensitive to the childrens needs. They use suitable teaching methods which are effectively organised and well evaluated. All the staff at the nursery are involved in ongoing professional development, which is beneficial to improving standards overall. The staff record the childrens attainment and progress towards the desirable learning outcomes satisfactorily, although they have not been consistently completed and updated. Informal methods have been effective in improving some aspects of provision.

The partnership with parents and carers is satisfactory. The staff provide some information on the educational provision, although they do not enable parents and carers to gain a complete picture of the full curriculum, Informally, the staff provide some useful information to parents and carers. However, the records of childrens attainment and progress are not all up to date, which has a significant impact on the quality of information they are able to share. Much of the information contained in the childrens reports is not sufficiently personalised. Currently, parents and carers offer informal feedback on their observations, but there is no opportunities for them to contribute effectively to the assessment process. Parents run the management committee which is responsible for the nursery and they are encouraged to be involved.

In order to improve the quality of the educational provision, the setting should;

1 Assess the childrens attainment and progress more effectively and ensure their records are completed regularly and consistently in all areas. Maintain more effective records for the children who speak English as an additional language. Develop ways for parents and carers to contribute to the process of assessment.

2 Ensure that activities provided are age appropriate, including the software for the computer. Plan more effectively for the childrens individual needs, including those who learn quickly of those who speak English as an additional language.

3 Improve aspects of the partnership with parents and carers, enabling them to access more information regarding the educational provision, and their childrens attainment and progress.

4 Plan more effectively for increasing the childrens physical control and skills within the programme for physical development, and ensure the programme builds on the skills which the children have already acquired. Introduce more music to listen to and move to a programme for creative development.

5 Further improve the childrens access to quality reading material. Develop opportunities for the children to associate sounds and patterns in rhymes and syllables, for example, by making more stories and poems in rhyme.